English 111

• Logos- the principle of appealing to rationality and factual evidence in an argument.
• Ethos- the principle of appealing to the presenter’s credibility in an argument, with a concentration on the audience’s personal values.
• Pathos- the principle of appealing to emotions in an argument.
• Kairos- an opening in an argument which must be acted upon for the argument to be complete.
• Ad hominem- attacking someone’s personal characteristics rather than the points they are making.
• 1. Strawman Argument- attacking a different subject than the one being discussed in order to misdirect a point being made.
  2. Ex. If you don’t support free college tuition, you hate poor people.
• 1. Red Herring- using an irrelevant point to divert attention from the real issue.
  2. Ex. I don’t think evolution is real, because it’s really insulting that someone would suggest I came from a monkey.
• 1. Appeal to ignorance- arguing that a stance must be true because the opposite has not been proven to be true.
  2. Ex. No one can prove that aliens do not exist, so they must be real.
• 1. Hasty Generalization- coming to a conclusion based on a few examples rather than conclusive proof.
  2. Ex. I don’t know anybody who likes Arby’s, so Arby’s must have bad food.
• Antecedent- preceding in time; previous or preexisting. Used as an adjective.
• Precedent- an earlier event or action which should be considered in subsequent events. Used as a noun.
• Contradiction- a combination of elements in an argument that oppose one another.
• Deduction- inferring events based on evidence given.
• Concurrence- when two or more details add credibility to an argument because of their consistency with one another.
• Rhetoric- a persuasive style of writing which is subjective and artistic, but is not always supported by evidence.
• Persuade- to cause something through reasoning or argument
• Per se- by or in itself; In a statement, a phrase that is used to single out one key element.
• De facto- in fact; especially;
• Ergo- Therefore